The worst football transfers are the ones that just mean cutting a big check once but having to cut one needlessly every month, crippling squad harmony, and failing to reach the club’s goals.
While football scouting methods have advanced in recent years, we’ve seen plenty of stinkers this season. This is why today, we look at the stats and FootballCoin performances and choose the worst football transfers across the major leagues for the 2023/2024 season.
Worst Football Transfers in the 2023/2024 Campaign
Note that since we discussed the Premier League’s worst transfers in a separate article, we won’t be focusing so much of our energy on the EPL this time.
Giacomo Raspadori, Cyril Ngonge and Jesper Lindstrom (Napoli)
Remember when Napoli signed Kvicha Kavaratshelia, Victor Osimhen, and Kim-min Jae without breaking the bank? Sure you did. They won the season then. And that happened just a year ago.
Surely they could do it again…
Queue the players expected to keep Napoli as a Scudetto-challenging side: Giacomo Raspadori, Cyril Ngonge and Jesper Lindstrom. Total expenditure: €65.00m
While these players are young and may still improve, their performances were a million miles away from those of Osimhen and Kavaradonna.
Raspadori scored five goals across the season and was occasionally average. Ngonge made one start and The Partenopei managers just hope he can develop into a decent benchwarmer. And the less we say about Jesper Lindstrøm’s performances, the better.
Get the scout who suggested Kim-min Jae on the phone, now!
Renato Sanches (AS Roma)
Renato Sanches didn’t force AS Roma into a big transfer. He was only on loan in the Eternal City. But, given his track record, hopes were that Jose Mourinho could be the manager to guide the Portuguese’s career back on track.
Not at all. The highly talented midfielder started only one game in Serie A and came off the bench in six others. He also suffered the indignity of being subbed off after 18 minutes by Mourinho. At 26 years there may still be time, but Renato Sanches has popped up on these lists quite a lot in recent years.
Sacha Boey (Bayern Munchen)
Sacha Boey is one for the future, we are assured. And the Frenchman’s performances for Galatasaray certainly seemed to prove that. So much so, in fact, that Bayern €30.00m in the January transfer window. Boey only made two appearances in one of Bayern’s worst seasons. While we are sure to see more of him, Bayern’s famous, well-orchestrated plans seem a thing of the past.
Vitor Roque and Oriol Romeu (FC Barcelona)
Vitor Roque and Oriol Romeu are added together as they both suffered similar fates. They were bought by FC Barcelona to solve important squad issues. But they found themselves unwanted by manager Xavi.
Romeu got some playing time initially. The goal was to turn the 32-year-old into a replacement for Busquets. His stats, unfortunately, are quite terrible. Romeu only earned 504 points in FootballCoina across the season.
Vitor Roque was supposed to be Barca’s new attacking genius. He only made two starts, however. Despite scoring twice, Xavi made it clear he did rate or consider him playing. A quick look over the face, at Real Madrid, gives an indication of how Spanish teams might utilize Brazilian talent.
Felix Nmecha (Borussia Dortmund)
Few things went well for Borussia Dortmund this season except for them reaching the Champions League final. Nmecha should get a pass since he is only 23 years old. But the fact that Dortmund spent €30.00m and, largely, failed to resolve a midfield problem warrants a place on our list.
Antony Santos (Manchester United)
We’ve talked about articles before. But such an article deserves one more mention of the Brazilian winger. His story is well known: He played decently in the Eredivisie, got Erik Ten Hag to tell Ajax to “name their price,” and has been a €100.00m that has upset most football fans, not least of all Manchester United ones.
Bryan Zaragoza (Bayern Munchen)
The 2023/2024 season will forever be the campaign during which Bayern Munchen lost the plot. By the middle part of the season, they were transferring Eric Dier – a benchwarmer for Tottenham, Sacha Boey – a promising but underdeveloped Galatasaray youth, and Bryan Zaragoza, a Granada squad player.
It was quite an opportunity, but this one worked just about as well as you’d expect. Zaragoza has been used in most of the positions that an outfield player can play in. He’s not quite impressed, and while time is on his side, the Bundesliga’s time among the elite leagues might be up.
